Chandrayaan-3, India's third Moon exploration mission, is set to position the country as the fourth -- after the US, China, and the former Soviet Union -- to successfully land a spacecraft on the moon. This would showcase its prowess in executing secure and soft lunar surface landings. The countdown for the launch began at Sriharikota on Thursday, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said.
"LVM3M4-CHANDRAYAAN-3 MISSION: The countdown leading to the launch tomorrow (Friday- July 14) at 14.35 hrs has commenced," ISRO tweeted.
It added that the live launch can be watched from its channels on social media and DD National from 2 pm.
Through the Chandryaan-3 programme, ISRO is crossing new frontiers by demonstrating soft-landing on the lunar surface by its lunar module and demonstrating roving on the lunar terrain, the space agency said.
The LVM3-M4 rocket (formerly GSLVMkI II) dubbed as 'Fat Boy' by the space scientists for its ability to carry heavy payload, would carry Chandrayaan-3 on Friday as ISRO's ambitious Moon mission is hugely anticipated from this spaceport on Friday.
The soft landing of the spacecraft is planned for late August. The mission is expected to be supportive to future interplanetary missions. Chandrayaan-3 mission consists of an indigenous propulsion module, lander module and a rover with an objective of developing and demonstrating new technologies required for inter-planetary missions.
In Pics: All you need to know about India's Chandrayaan-3 mission
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